alloy wheel specs

Once I have done the head gasket on my '94 945 and a couple of tidying jobs (mainly a new o/s rear door which was damaged by some old biddy in a punto). The only thing needed for the MOT will be a new set of tyres. Given the low prices that you can get tyre and wheel packages now I thought I might treat the old girl to some new shiny shoes as I need new tyres and trims all round anyway and the price wouldn't be much more if any. Can anyone give me the specs for offset,stud spacing etc.I can only seem to find the ones for post '95 960's on the web. I was considering upsizing to a 16" wheel, if I did I believe a 205/55/16 would give me the same overall wheel diameter so not upsetting speedo readings, is this right? Would the extra 20mm width cause any problems though, it looks like there is plenty of room but I don't know about on full lock.
A lot of questions I know but your help is greatly appreciated.

Many Thanks.

Bryan

[RollingThunder]

Hi Bryan,

Stud pattern is 5x108 on all 740/940s upto 1995 model year. I think the offset is either 20 or 25mm but I'm not 100% sure which.

Regarding tyres, you can go upto a 225 section apparently, although the ride will obviously become harsher the shorter the tyre wall. Any larger than a 225 will probably require wing flaring... (This info courtesy Brickboard and Turbobricks)

195/65x15=25.0in tyre diameter

205/55x16=24.9in
225/50x16=24.8in

205/50x17=25.1in
225/45x17=25.0in

These are the closest to std spec tyre on a typical 940 (195/65x15). Its recommended that you don't stray more than +/- 2.5% in order to maintain gearing and speedometer accuracy.

Hope this helps - btw get the figures checked by the shop before you buy!

If you decide to just get tyres, then I can heartily recommend www.mytyres.co.uk - I've had three sets from them and the service is excellent and the prices good.

All the best,

[Peter Milnes]

It is not worth straying from the standard spec for tyres and wheels. Rims are 6J x 15 x 25 (the 25 refers to mm offset). For the estate the tyre size should be 195/65/H15. The reason for my advocating sticking to the standard sizes is in the interests of comfort and ride quality. The lower the profile of the tyre the worse the ride quality becomes, also the inclement weather handling is also worsened. There is a new tyre on the market which is getting rave reviews from the motoring press. They are Maxxis which come from Germany.I have just put four on my 945 and can rep[ort that so far handling and ride quality is up with the best. Mine cost around £37 a wheel, balanced with new valves.

All the best, Peter.

Volvo would sell you up to 215/45 tyres on 17" rims from the Accessories brochure and several models came with 205/55s on 16" rims (as both my cars do - one on Hydras and one on Galaxies). Ride is good, maybe a tad firmer, whilst handling is great. Turn in is better than on 15" wheels. The problem with any wider tyres is that they rub on the steering arm. You'd have to get into offset spacers to go wider and that could give interesting results!

cheers Simon